Robert Capa
Surname | Capa |
Given Name | Robert |
Born | 1913 |
Died | 25 May 1954 |
Country | United States |
Category | Photography |
Gender | Male |
Contributor: Bryan Hiatt
ww2dbasePhotographer Robert Capa arguably captured some of the most enduring images of modern conflict. Among these is a collection of "slightly out of focus" pictures taken on June 6, 1944 at Omaha Beach. Capa said about his work: "If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough." He "covered five different wars: the Spanish civil war, the Japanese invasion of China, World War II across [Africa and] Europe, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and the First Indochina War."
ww2dbaseRobert Capa's name was actually Andrei Friedmann and he was born in Budapest in 1913. At age 18, he left Hungary and found work as a darkroom apprentice in Berlin. When Hitler came to power, Friedmann left for Paris. To get work, he and his fiancée, Gerda Taro
ww2dbaseAnd so Robert Capa was born. In 1936 and after his rouse was discovered, "[his] coverage of the Spanish Civil War appeared regularly in [several publications, including Life]. His…picture of the Loyalist soldier falling to his death brought him international reputation and became a powerful symbol of war."
ww2dbaseCapa literally jumped feet first into his World War II assignments, parachuting with the 82nd Airborne Division into Sicily, and prior to this, documented the Allied war efforts in Africa. His Omaha Beach photos on D-Day are perhaps his most extraordinary.
ww2dbaseCapa wrote about his experience on the beach in the book Slightly out of Focus:
ww2dbaseAfter shooting 106 total exposures, Capa turned from the action on the beach and ran toward an incoming landing craft, where he intended to warm his hands for a few minutes. From there it was back to England and publication of his photos. A short time later, he returned to Normandy and his work followed Allied operations until the end of the war.
ww2dbaseMagnum Photos, the company Capa founded in 1947, maintains an extensive archive of this work here. He died in 1954 after stepping on a land mine while at work in Thai-Binh, Indochina.
ww2dbaseSources: 225th AAA Searchlight Battalion (Skylighters) at www.skylighters.org, www.photo-seminars.com, www.magnumphotos.com, www.time.com, and wikipedia.
Last Major Revision: May 2005
Photographs
Photographs Taken by Robert Capa
Robert Capa Timeline
1 Jan 1913 | Robert Capa was born. |
25 May 1954 | Robert Capa passed away. |
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17 Nov 2009 01:18:25 PM
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